About Us

X-ray fluorescence (XRF) spectrometry is a prevalent means of non-destructive elemental analysis in archaeology, the earth and environmental sciences, cultural heritage and museum studies, and other fields. A few universities have specialized “archaeological XRF laboratories” outfitted with a benchtop XRF spectrometer, vacuum pump or gas tanks, desktop computers, and support equipment in a dedicated space.

We are fundamentally different.

The Yale Archaeological XRF ExoLab (YAXX) is not a laboratory in the traditional sense. That is, our XRF instruments are not restricted to a particular room on campus. Instead, we use portable XRF instruments that can analyze artifacts or other objects in our Archaeomaterials Suite or Clean Lab, across campus at the Peabody Museum or Yale University Art Gallery, on a mountainside, or in an archaeological field house on the opposite side of the world.

We can work outside (“exo-”) the lab – hence, an “exolab.”

This eliminates shipping or exporting artifacts, soils, and other specimens to a distant analytical facility, and it improves collaborations with our colleagues around the world, enabling us to integrate chemical analysis into projects in new and innovative ways.

Logo

Yes, that is a yak in the YAXX logo – yaks, YAXX, get it? And, yes, it is carrying a portable XRF case on its back. For millennia, yaks have been important pack animals in alpine regions, transporting traders’ goods through mountain passes and climbers’ supplies for trekking expeditions. It is a fitting mascot for our endeavors to bring XRF instruments into the field.

Support

YAXX was founded in 2017 thanks to generous awards from the Anthropology Department and the Offices of the Vice Provost for Research, Dean of Science, and Dean of Social Science.

Energy & Sustainability

Yale is committed to a greenhouse gas emissions reduction goal of 43% below 2005 levels by 2020. In 2016, with the publication of the Yale Sustainability Plan 2025, Yale committed to carbon neutrality on or before 2050. To achieve these goals, Yale has committed to reducing energy use within buildings through conservation and efficiency, adhering to sustainable construction and renovation standards for buildings, and increasing efficiency in Yale’s on-campus power plants. Read more about Yale’s sustainability plan here.

YAXX oversees state-of-the-art portable XRF instruments on behalf of the Council on Archaeological Studies and Department of Anthropology at Yale University.